GOOD SPORTS: West Chatham Lady Wildcats win softball title

Thursday

The West Chatham Middle School Lady Wildcats fast-pitch softball team made a commitment to winning the county title this seaason.

The quote on the back of their shirts read, “One Team, One Mission.”

Coach Brandi Mills, a former standout athlete, focused her team on working together.

And it paid off. The Lady Wildcats went 7-0 during league play and entered the annual Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools postseason tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Lady Wildcats opened by defeating rival Derenne, 19-5, then had to face a tough Oglethorpe Academy squad in the semifinals.

Mills said the semifinal game was the toughest they had to play all season. Down 7-3 in the last inning, the Lady Wildcats rallied with five runs on clutch hits to prevail 8-7 and advance to the championship game.

In the finals, against a strong Coastal Middle School squad that West Chatham lost to in last year’s championship, Mills told her girls, “This is our time.”

The seventh-and-eighth grade team of Pinewood Christian Academy from Bellville defeated rival Blessed Sacrament 36-8 in the postseason football tournament finals Nov. 3 to capture its first SPAL AAA Division title in nearly eight years.

This year’s team went 10-0, outscored opponents 248-20 and had several leaders both on offense and defense. One standout was eighth-grade running back Preston Campbell, who led the Patriots’ offense with 19 touchdowns and ended the year with close to 800 yards rushing. He also played on defense.

The team was coached by Chase Cofield, Chance Cofield, Parker Gordon and Jimmy Griffith.

And speaking of football, the Westside Whippers (8U), Savannah Stars (10U) and Windsor Forest (12U) were recently crowned champions of the annual City of Savannah’s postseason tournament at Daffin Park’s Optimist Field. Other winners included the 8U Savannah Dawgs in South Georgia Youth Football League play, the 10U Bloomingdale Bears in Coastal Athletic Association league play and the West Chatham Wildcats in Savannah-Chatham County Public School postseason tourney play.

Rebel Bowl a success

The annual Rebel Bowl was founded in 1965 by former longtime mayor of Garden City Jay W. Harrell and is known as the “largest youth football bowl in the Coastal Empire,” according to Garden City recreation director Cliff Ducey.

The 46th-annual event, which fielded 48 8U-12U teams from Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties, ran from Nov. 5-19 and was played at Garden City Stadium.

Ducey thanked all the teams that participated this year and said he hopes they will enter again next year.

Contact Mark Beasley with all of your local sports happenings. Send email to markbeasley.goodsports@yahoo.com.

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